Seasoned actors of Philippine theatre, film, and television come together for Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas’s fourth offering this 40th theatre season, The Dressing Room: That Which Flows Away Ultimately Becomes Nostalgia and its Filipino translation, Ang Dressing Room: Kung Saan Lubusang Pangungulila ang Dulot ng Agos ng Panahon.
Frances Makil-Ignacio, Ces Quesada, Missy Maramara, Roeder Camañag, Andoy Ranay, Gwyn Guanzon, and Ian Ignacio topbill the 1977 post-war Japanese play by Shimizu Kunio, translation adapted by Chiori Miyagawa from an original translation by John Gillespie. Alexander Cortez’ direction features an all-female cast for English version and an all-male cast for the Filipino version translated by Palanca Hall of Famer, Nicolas Pichay.
The play within a play tells the stories, frustrations, memoirs and aspirations of four actresses preparing backstage (gakuya, in Japanese) and waiting for their cue to enter onstage. All actresses express their desire to perform the lead role and their obsessive coveting for it ignites a comic yet dramatic narrative about shared memories and their relationship with each other. The Dressing Room… is a tender and humorous drama about actors, the theatre, aging, surviving and moving on.
The artistic team is composed of Dexter M. Santos (choreography), Ohm David (set design), Meliton Roxas Jr. (lighting design), Faust Peneyra (costume), Jethro Joaquin (sound design), Jean Edfhel Pascual & JC Bautista (dramaturgs-in-training), Patricia Balboa (video design) Stephen Viñas (assistant choreography), Garett Picardal (lights apprentice), Jojit Lorenzo (photography), Gwyn Guanzon (art direction for pictorials), Riza Romero (make-up designer for pictorials), and Pow Santillan (poster design).